Research on Hollow Village Governance Based on Action Network: Mode, Mechanism and Countermeasures—Comparison of Different Patterns in Plain Agricultural Areas of China

Abstract

With the large-scale development of urbanization in the world, phenomena such as the unbalanced allocation of various elements of the rural regional system, as well as the decline of the economic and social structure and functions in the process of urban and rural economic and social transformation and development in China, have endangered the healthy development of rural areas. The “hollowing” of rural areas is becoming more and more intense, and the governance of hollow villages has become a key link to stimulating the vitality of rural development and realizing the coordinated development of urban and rural areas. Taking a typical hollow village in Fangsi Town, Yucheng City, Shandong Province, China as an example, through the recognition method of hollow villages mode, the study adopted the in-depth interviews and questionnaires to obtain governance of hollow villages. Moreover, this study uses the actor–network theory to discuss the governance model mechanism and policy response of hollow villages, extract the applicable conditions of different hollow village governance modes, and provide the promotion of the hollow village governance mechanism. Our findings show that: (1) the governance modes of hollow villages are diverse. Under certain geographical conditions, the governance of hollow villages shows the relocation and merger–urban–rural integration mode, village integration-scale operation mode, village intensive-idle land revitalization mode, and original site optimization–sightseeing tourism development mode, along with other types. In the process of promotion and use, appropriate adjustments should be made in combination with differences and changes in system conditions, and the accurate governance of villages should be carried out. (2) The governance process of hollow villages is dynamic. The governance of hollow villages represents a heterogeneous network of actors led by key actors, which mainly realizes changes in the rural material space. With the change of development goals of the hollow village, the network of actors has been readjusted around the new OPP, and the role of the actors has changed, correspondingly showing a transition from the governance of the hollow village to the optimized development, thus further realizing the transformation of the hollow village.